DEMONSTRATOR MOURNED IN BELGRADE.Byline: Julijana Mojsilovic Associated Press Associated Press: see news agency. Associated Press (AP) Cooperative news agency, the oldest and largest in the U.S. and long the largest in the world. As a brass band played, at least 10,000 opposition protesters grieved Saturday at the burial of the first person killed in demonstrations against the government of Slobodan Milosevic. Afterward af·ter·ward also af·ter·wards adv. At a later time; subsequently. Adv. 1. afterward - happening at a time subsequent to a reference time; "he apologized subsequently"; "he's going to the store but he'll be back here , mourners marched into the streets leading from Belgrade's main cemetery, blowing whistles and small horns as they have during the past six weeks of protests. The victim, 39-year-old Predrag Starcevic, died Tuesday from a beating by Milosevic supporters. Protests have continued daily since Milosevic annulled the results of Nov. 17 local elections that opposition candidates had won. On Friday, the 38th day of protests, international mediators in Geneva Geneva, canton and city, Switzerland Geneva (jənē`və), Fr. Genève, canton (1990 pop. 373,019), 109 sq mi (282 sq km), SW Switzerland, surrounding the southwest tip of the Lake of Geneva. urged Milosevic to concede con·cede v. con·ced·ed, con·ced·ing, con·cedes v.tr. 1. To acknowledge, often reluctantly, as being true, just, or proper; admit. See Synonyms at acknowledge. 2. defeat. He has not done so. The protests pose the biggest challenge to Milosevic since he rose to power nine years ago, and the authoritarian president has seemed intent on crushing crushing deaths of newborn animals, especially those in litters, caused by the mother lying on them accidentally. Contributed to by weakness of the neonate or awkward accommodation. A problem in piglets and puppies. Called also overlying. them, at the risk of losing international support. No police were visible during the post-funeral march, but in downtown Belgrade, riot police riot police n → policía antidisturbios riot police n → forces fpl de police intervenant en cas d'émeute; hundreds of riot police → formed tight ranks to prevent 15,000 students from leaving a pedestrian zone for their daily march through the city. The front line of students stood about 15 yards from helmeted police carrying shields. Other students walked in circles, with their hands behind their heads, as if they were in a prison yard. ``The cordon cor·don n. 1. A line of people, military posts, or ships stationed around an area to enclose or guard it. 2. A cord or braid worn as a fastening or ornament. 3. is their only answer to everything,'' Cedomir Mihajlovic, a student organizer, told independent Radio Index. The students called for the resignation of Serbian Interior Minister Zoran Sokolovic, saying that he was ``the most responsible'' for police behavior. In an open letter to the Serbian and Yugoslav interior ministers, 41 Belgrade University law professors protested the police's ``over-reaction'' to protests. The premier of Montenegro, Serbia's tiny partner in the Yugoslav federation, sent a message of support to Belgrade students Saturday. ``Montenegro has always supported pro-democracy tendencies and is now supporting you,'' Premier Milo Milo, athlete of ancient Greece Milo (mī`lō) or Milon (mī`lŏn), fl. 500 B.C., athlete of ancient Greece, b. Crotona. Djukanovic said in his message. Also Saturday, domestic support for the protesters spread to the head of Serbia's Orthodox church, and hundreds of leading intellectuals. In an early message for Orthodox Christmas, celebrated Jan. 7, Patriarch patriarch, in the Bible patriarch (pā`trēärk), in biblical tradition, one of the antediluvian progenitors of the race as given in Genesis (e.g., Seth) or one of the ancestors of the Jews (e.g. Pavle urged a peaceful solution and acceptance of the elections. ``The respect of law and justice obliges us all to respect the freely expressed will of people, to prevent autocracy AUTOCRACY. The name of a government where the monarch is unlimited by law. Such is the power of the emperor of Russia, who, following the example of his predecessors, calls himself the autocrat of all the Russias. and violence that never can and never will bring any good to people and state,'' Pavle said. Hundreds of writers, artists, doctors and other intellectuals signed a petition declaring their opposition to Milosevic's regime, which they called a ``totalitarian system - the last of its kind in Europe.'' The Fonet independent news agency published the petition as an open letter. Serbia's middle class has dwindled as five years of war drove many professionals and young men into exile and draft-dodging. The petition indicated that many people once wary of the opposition have now come out against Milosevic. At the funeral Saturday, opposition leaders Vuk Draskovic, Zoran Djindjic and Vesna Pesic walked slowly behind the black hearse, with the victim's widow, 10 Orthodox priests and about 50 mourners carrying wreaths. ``One day, when Belgrade becomes the way you wanted it to be, a street will be named after you,'' Draskovic said, addressing the deceased. |
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